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New KIPAC Parking Lot Takes
Shape Near Main Gate
By
Shawne Neeper
Road
closed. Right turn only. Before long, it will be left turn only. Recent
traffic rerouting counter-clockwise around the Loop Road has been
necessary for the construction of additional parking to support the
future Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC),
and it is nearly finished. Next will come Phase II—construction of the
three-story building, which will require occasional closures of the Loop
Road.
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This plan shows the layout
of the new parking area. The arrow in the upper-left corner
leads to the Main Gate. (Drawing courtesy of Kingston Chan) |
The
current work extends the existing parking lot to the east and downhill
from the Cafeteria. The new parking area lies inside the northeast bend
of the Loop Road—after entering SLAC from Sand Hill Road, make a left
turn onto the Loop Road from the Main Gate.
During
construction, traffic re-routing will continue to vary depending on what
operations are needed, explained Jerry Jobe (BSD). For instance, the
construction contractors will close the east side of the Loop Road when
they need to move heavy equipment and dirt. Jobe asked that everyone
stay alert for either a flag man or traffic.
Parking
lot construction began September 13 and is expected to last until
mid-October—approximately five weeks total. “At the end of that, we
should have a new parking area that will accommodate about 35 cars,”
Jobe said. It will be open just in time to replace a portion of the
Visitor’s Lot that will be needed as a construction staging area when
work begins on the Kavli building.
“Provided some hurdles can be overcome, and pending approval from the
Stanford Board of Trustees, the building construction will probably
start in mid-October,” Jobe said. Milpitas-based Devcon Construction,
the general contractor who built the SLAC Guest House, has nearly
completed the parking lot and is expected to finish the building in
about one year.
“During
building construction the Loop Road will be closed going the other
direction from time to time,” Jobe said, and there will be construction
vehicles and equipment moving around the site. “People will need to be
more alert driving around the Loop Road.”
No
Worries About the Trees
Construction plans for the building and parking area were designed to
accommodate SLAC’s trees, which will provide welcome shade for parked
cars. Existing trees appear as circles on the project site plan. “We go
around the trees, and protect them,” said Kingston Chan (SEM), the
project engineer who helps coordinate with Stanford and Devcon.
Some
trees will even be relocated and replanted elsewhere on SLAC grounds.
“If it’s an oak, we definitely save it,” Chan said. One tree, in
particular, is slated for special treatment. A commemorative flowering
cherry tree, planted in honor of Director emeritus W.K.H. ‘Pief’
Panofsky (DO), will be moved from its present site near the redwoods in
Panofsky Grove to make way for the new building.
The
KIPAC inauguration and groundbreaking took place this spring and summer.
For more information, see
http://www2.slac.stanford.edu/tip/2003/mar21/kavli-event.htm
and
http://www2.slac.stanford.edu/tip/2004/jul16/kavli.htm
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